When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, its a good core workout. If youre sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More

Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More

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San Francisco Film Society held their Film Society Awards Night at Bimbo's on Tuesday, May 7th. Harrison Ford was in attendance accepting the 2013 Peter J. Owens Award. Photographs by Josh Edelson for SF Weekly.

Dry Run: The Neurotic Guy from "Girls" Directed a Movie About Directing a Movie

In Alex Karpovsky's Red Flag, a filmmaker, played by Karpovsky, goes on the road to promote his film. This involves variously peculiar audience Q&A's, one of which yields a highly awkward traveling companionship; another, near the movie's end, when Karpovsky's character's personal life has almost completely melted down, leaves him rumpled and rambling to a classroom full of impassive college students about how we're all doomed to repeat our mistakes. Karpovsky's vision of the peripatetic filmmaker's life is hilariously bleak. So is he thrilled to be a special guest at this year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, where Red Flag will be shown along with a commemorative clip reel of his other work?

"Absolutely," Karpovsky says on the phone from New York, where he's shooting new episodes of Lena Dunham's Girls, resuming the acerbic supporting role for which he's best known. "I'm really excited to be coming out there with the movie. I love audience Q&As." Red Flag is one of the two films Karpovsky wrote, directed, produced, and starred in last year. (The other, Rubberneck, is a thriller, not a comedy, but also bleak.) He seems to be having a moment, taking full command of his career.

"When I was growing up I wanted to be a scientist," Karpovsky says. "My dad is a scientist. I thought it was going to be a comfortable life. And I went to grad school in England at Oxford. There was an environment there where it's really easy to act and perform. Any old schmuck could give it a go. And I was one such schmuck."

Karpovsky is Jewish, but "it's not something that I think too much about," on account of his Russian immigrant parents mostly having left their traditions behind. "I know I look very Jewish, and often when I'm cast it's because I look very Jewish. I don't have a problem with it, but it's hard not to notice." Certainly that was true for his role in the new Coen brothers film, Inside Llewyn Davis, during whose production Karpovsky, a lifelong Coens fan, had to work very hard to focus on his character, "not the 30 years of worship."

Karpovsky has said that as a young man he wanted to be the next Andy Kaufman. Since getting into movies and TV, others have suggested he might be the next Woody Allen. Is that a demotion, or a lucky break?

"I'm not choosing the clips," Karpovsky says of the festival's planned retrospective, which will likely pull from his own films, Girls, and Dunham's movie Tiny Furniture. "I don't know what the criteria are. I'm interested to find out. As a man who's always drifting in and out of existential crisis, and not really knowing who he is, it will be nice to see what clips other people think are defining. As a narcissist, I'm really flattered that people ask me to share all my movies with them. I like talking to people about my work. I like talking about myself."

A Spotlight on Alex Karpovsky is July 27 at 7:15 p.m. at the Castro Theatre as part of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (July 25-Aug. 12). Tickets are $11-$30. Call 621-0556 or visit sfjff.org.

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Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
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